Family Ties
by Klio
Summary: Someone from Jack's past shakes things up at the SGC. I'm not quite sure where it's going yet, PG-13 for possible protection later. Thanks to my beta Lori.
1. Mystery Scientist

Chapter 1: Mystery Scientist

Briefing Room, 1000 hours

"So you guys ready for your trip to P4X-237?" Jack asked

Sam answered "Yes sir, but have you found out who this mystery scientist is?"

"No, I've tried everything. No one will tell me who he is."

"What makes you think it's a he?" Sam asked bluntly.

"It. He, she, whatever. Anyway, you would think they would tell the guy running the base who's going to be on it." Jack said staring to sound slightly annoyed

In the corridor leading to the briefing room, Sgt. Davis walked a beautiful young Major in Dress Blues up the hallway. "Are you sure you don't want me to announce you to the General, ma'am?"

"No thank you Sergeant. Don't worry; he won't be mad at you." She replied with a reassuring smile, noticing how uncomfortable the Sgt was with the situation.

As she walked up to the window of the briefing room, she looked in and paused. "Oh, this is gonna be fun." She muttered under her breath.

As the mysterious Major stood at the window looking in Sam happened to look out.

"Who is that?" she asked, thinking the young woman looked slightly familiar.

When Jack turned to see who was there he froze in his chair. A barely audible "oh my god" slipped from his lips as he jumped from his chair and ran out to greet the mystery woman. Stunned, Daniel, Sam and Teal'c just sat there watching the Generals response.

"Hey, Jackie." The Major said smiling at Jack.

"Jackie?" Sam mouthed to Daniel who shrugged back a quick "I don't know"

"Kristi." Jack breathed out as he swept her in to a spinning hug. "Now, you know I hate it when you call me that."

"Who is she?" Sam whispered to Daniel.

"I have no clue." He replied, still staring as if in shock.

"Could she be a new female companion?" asked Teal'c who was also still staring at the two in the hallway.

"I doubt it; she looks like she's only about 27."Sam said trying way too hard to hide her jealousy.

"Kristi, what are you doing here?" Jack asked as he let her out of the hug.

"Now, Jack I know your smarter than that. Think about it for a minute."

"The mystery scientist."

"Ah, there's my Jack. Thinking once again. So, aren't you going to introduce me?" She asked noticing the stares coming from the briefing room.

"Oh, yeah." Jack said turning and leading her in to the room. "Hey, guys, I'd like you to meet the mystery scientist, Major Kristine O'Neill. Major meet SG-1."

There was a short uncomfortable silence as Daniel and Sam's jaws dropped. Teal'c stood up giving Jack an inquisitive look.

"It's nice to meet all of you, and apparently you have never heard of me." Kristi said with an affliction that mirrored that often heard from the General. "Well, I'm Jack's cousin, you can call me Kristi."

"It's a pleasure to meet you KristineO'Neill" Teal's replied with the bow of his head. "I am…"

"Teal'c, right? Now, I have heard of all of you." Kristi said as she shot a look a Jack. "Dr Jackson I presume?" She asked as she smiled and shook his hand.

"Yeah, so Jack's cousin. I take it you had to grow up with him, huh? I'm sorry." Daniel smiled back, his brain thinking at a mile a minute.

"Thanks." She replied giggling a little. "But, I wasn't as bad as you would think."

Daniel, realizing he still was holding her hand, let it go and quickly broke eye contact.

"I'm Colonel Sam Carter; it's nice to meet you." Sam finally said.

"Colonel" Kristi replied saluting in a perfect Air Force manner.

"Major." Sam nodded. "You're awful young to be a Major. How long have you been in the Air Force?"

"Actually, Ma'am, I'm 29, and…."

"And, I thought you were not supposed to be here till tomorrow, Kristi?" Jack quickly cut in knowing how Kristi's bluntness was much like his own, and knowing how it pushes here buttons when people brought up her age. "And why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Well, I had to pull a lot of strings to keep secret that I was coming in the first place, so I thought I would come in early before you could convince and/or annoy someone into telling you."

Sam could hardly hold back a snicker; she liked the way this girl could hold her own with the General.

"Wait a minute, you're a scientist!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Well, yeah." Kristi said, giving Daniel a slightly dumbfounded look. "Mainly, I'm a Biochemist, but I try to dabble in a little bit of everything. Why?"

"Well, supposedly, Jack never liked scientists." Daniel said smugly.

"Ha, I don't know about that, I usually find he has quite a soft spot for scientists."

"Only the special few, and my genius baby cousin. Not to mention she's the only one of you Doctors who is actually a doctor." Jack replied in his own defense.

"General, sorry to interrupt, but your teleconference is in 5 min." Sgt Davis said sticking his head in the briefing room.

"Ok, I'll be there in a minute. Hey Carter, why don't you show the Major around the Labs, I know she will enjoy that. Oh, and get her some BDUs."

"I'll be glad to, sir"


	2. Getting to Know You

Chapter 2: Getting to know you

"So, Major, tell me a little about yourself." Sam asked Kristi as she walked her to the labs.

"Well, ma'am…"

"Call me Sam."

"Sam, call me Kristi." She replied with a slight smile. "Let's see, I've been in Antarctica for the last year and a half, then before that I was in Russia for 6 years."

"Russia, huh? Have you met a man named Rodney McKay?"

"Yeah." Kristi smiled. "Rodney is a good friend of mine."

"Friend? How did you handle him?"

"Well, he defiantly had to grow on me. Actually, he used to talk about you, A LOT."

"Oh, great." Sam replied sarcastically.

"I finally got him to stop by telling him if I wanted to here so much about you I'd just talk to Jack."

At that comment Sam blushed slightly and shot Kristi an unreadable look. Kristi just looked back with a sly smile. "Of course, at the time he didn't know that Jack is my cousin, so he was defiantly shocked."

Both Sam and Kristi smiled for a moment at the thought of McKay's shocked expression.

"Sam, please forgive me if I come across to forward. I've gotten so used to working with civilians; it's kind of weird to be back on a military dominant base."

"It's ok, Kristi. This isn't your run of the mill base. So, how did you end up in Antarctica?"

"Well, when Rodney found out about the Atlantis expedition, he immediately called me. Considering the fact that Jack has the gene, there was a good chance I had it to, which I do. Anyway, he wanted me to go to Atlantis with him, and I was so ready to go, until a certain General made a request to keep me in this galaxy."

"I bet you were pissed."

"Just a bit." Kristi said with a very high level of sarcasm. "I got over it eventually. But, someone decided that since I had the gene I should stay in Antarctica and continue the research there."

"Well, at least there was a lot there to keep you busy. Speaking of busy, my home a way from home, my lab."

After a tour of the labs, Sam and Kristi went down to the mess to meet guys for lunch. As they walked in they were talking up a storm much like they had been for the last hour. Daniel and Jack turned towards them when they came in. Daniel's eyes looked with Kristi's for a brief moment, but he quickly turn away.

"Probably talking about some new science doohickey." Jack said to Daniel and Teal'c as he at another bite of red jello.

"That is probable O'Neill." Teal'c replied.

"Well, at least their getting along, right?" asked Daniel, who was trying to focus on his lunch and not Jack's cousin, who was walking over to the table still talking to Sam, soon to take the seat in front of him.

"So, Jack," Kristi asked "as much as I love it here, how bout we go out to dinner off base tonight? Maybe that place you told me about? What was it O'Malley's?"

"I can't tonight. We have a team scheduled to come in tonight, I have to stay on base. Maybe Daniel or Cater can go with you?"

"I can't go; I have a few experiments to finish up and a ton of paper work to do before we leave for P4X-237." Sam said disappointedly.

"What about you, Danny? Think you're up to showing Kristi around town?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I'm all caught up. I could use some time off base."

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Kristi said looking at Daniel, secretly hoping he would go so she could get to know him better.

"No, it's ok, besides I could use some new dirt on Jack." Daniel laughed shooting a glance at Jack.

"That reminds me, I need to get you a room set up for tonight." Jack said to Kristi.

"Actually, I was going to stay off base tonight."

"Why?"

"I've been stuck on base in Antarctica for over a year now. I left one base and came straight to another. I was hoping for a short break from base life. I'm just going to get a room at a hotel."

"No way. You can stay off base, but at least stay at my place, ok?" Jack told her in a way that it almost was more of an order.

"Yes sir; do you have an extra key?"

"Do you still have you cabin key?" Kristi nodded. "Well, it's the same." Jack continued.

Sam giggled a little at that. "You have your cabin and your house keyed the same?"

"You know Jack; he likes to keep things simple." Kristi said back joining in Sam's slight giggle.

"Ok, Ok. I need to get going, you girls enjoy your lunch. Don't talk too much about me." Jack said glaring at his younger cousin. "That means you Kristi."

"Of course Jack."

"I too must be going." Teal'c said as he stood up to leave. "Daniel?"

"I'm still finishing up I'll see you in a while." He said turning to Kristi. "So, let me hear some dirt on Jack, he doesn't talk too much about the past or his family."

"Well, there is a lot to tell. But, I don't know about telling embarrassing stories about Jack in the middle of the commissary."

"That might be a good idea." Sam laughed.

_Beep, beep, beep._

"Damn," Sam said looking down at her pager. "That's my cue to go back to work. You guys have fun."

"Are you sure you can't make it to dinner?" Kristi asked.

"Wish I could, but I need to finish my experiment before we leave."

"See ya later Sam." Daniel called out to her as she left the commissary. "So, what exactly do you do? I know you said the whole biochemistry thing, and Jack mentioned something about you being an actual Doctor."

"Yeah, well, I originally got my first degree in Biochemistry, and then went on to get my medical degree. I don't practice or anything, or at least recently, I mainly got it because it makes it easier to get on certain research projects."

"So, why are you here going on this mission?"

"I heard about a resent mission from SG-7. They heard about a river from the locals on P4X-237."

"Yeah, I remember. The locals said it had some healing properties, but SG-7 didn't really check it out."

"Well, they did bring bask some water samples, which happened to have found their way to me when a friend of mine at area 51 called with some questions. After looking at the results, I felt the river could use a little more looking in to."

"Ah, so you came all the way here to go check out a river?"

"Yes, and to see Jack, not to mention who could past up a chance to go through the Stargate?"

"So, are you and Jack close? I think I've seen your picture at his house, but you looked a lot younger."

"Yeah, he's actually more like a brother to me; his Mom adopted me after my parents died when I was 6. We used to be a lot closer, but you know how work is. We don't really tell people that we are related. I think I've only told one person before. We haven't spoken much in the last year; we had a little falling out."

"What happened?"

"Well, I was supposed to go on the Atlantis expedition. Rodney figured I had the gene…"

"Rodney?"

"Yeah, McKay. I believe you have met him."

"Yes, but how do you know him?" Daniel said with a slight eyebrow raise.

"I worked with him in Russia while he was there, we're good friends." Daniel could tell by the tone in her voice that there was more, but decided to leave it alone and let her finish her story.

"Anyway, so I have the gene, big surprise since Jack has it too. Rodney talked to Dr Weir and got me on the team. A couple of weeks before they left he got a call saying that I was to be removed from the expedition. No explanation, nothing, just which I wasn't going."

"Jack said no." Daniel replied with sympathy.

"Yep, later that afternoon Rodney gave Jack a call while I was there. They got in to quite an argument over the situation. When I finally got the phone we had the basic baby sister argument, you know I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions, you don't know what your doing, ect, ect, ect. The phone call ended with me calling him an ass and not to expect to hear from me for a while. Speaking of which, I need to go talk to Jack. I've barely spent two minuets with him."

"OK, how 'bout dinner at 6?"

"Alright, I'll meet you at Jack's office at 0800." With a smile Kristi got up and walked towards Jack's office.

"Knock, knock. Is the old General to busy to visit with his kid sister?" Kristi giggled as she stuck her head in Jack's office.

"Naw, I guess I could spare a few minuets for a way to smart for her own good Major." He smirked back at her. "So, I thought you weren't talking to me?"

"I had a nice chat with Mom."

"Ah, and what did she have to say?"

"Well, besides the fact that you never call? That you love me and you only were being an ass because you couldn't stand losing me."

"She did not say that I was being an ass."

"Actually she did, and she said that I was being stubborn."

"You? Stubborn, never."

"Hey, I learn from the best."

They talked for about an hour. They talked about Antarctica, and Russia, about Jack becoming a General in command of the SGC. They discussed how their work takes over their lives and how their co-workers become like family. Kristi tried to Jack to talk about Sam, knowing that he has feelings for her from the way he talks about her in letters and phone calls, but didn't push the subject. Both of them were slightly surprised at how quickly their relationship returned to the way it was before the events of the last year. By 1500 Jack had to get back to his never ending paper work and phone calls, so Kristi left for Sam's lab leaving Jack feeling a little jealous that he was not going with them on the mission the next day.


	3. It Was Just Dinner

_Ok, just a note, the little mention of a cross over was inspired by my 4 yr old little boy. He loves MacGyver, and I couldn't help it. Also, I apoligies if my Russian is off, I just used an online translator._

**Chapter 3: It Was Just Dinner!**

'Crap. It's 5 till 6; I'm so going to be late.' Kristi thought as she finished getting changed out of her BDUs and in to some civies. She had gotten a little too interested in some of Colonel Carter's experiments and totally lost track of time. Now she was going to be late for dinner with Daniel.

"Hey Jack." Daniel said walking in to the General's office. It was exactly 6 o'clock, and he knew it. He didn't show up early and he was ready early enough so there was no way he could be late. Although if you asked, he would say he was just being a good friend to Jack by taking Kristi out, but really the young Major intrigued him.

"Hey Daniel. You guys getting ready to go to dinner?"

"Yeah. Where is Kristi?" he asked trying not to sound to enthusiastic.

"I don't know. Last I saw her was at 1500 when she left here heading for Carter's lab….ahh, give her a few minutes. Knowing Kristi, she got caught up with whatever Carter is working on."

Kristi was quite proud of her self. Within 15 minutes she had changed, touched up her make-up, and was heading back down the elevator from the locker room. By the time she got to Jack's office she could hear the guys deep in conversation.

"So, why haven't I, your best friend, ever heard of her? I know you don't talk too much about your family, but I've known you for almost 9 years now!"

"I'm sure I must have mentioned her a few times, maybe you just weren't listening."

"Knock, knock. You boys having fun?" Kristi purposely interrupted, partially to save Jack, and partially so that she wouldn't have to hear the rest of the conversation. They had an unspoken agreement that it was ok not to tell other people about each other. No one she worked with, with the exception of McKay, ever heard her talk about Jack either.

"Oh, tons." Jack answered with his famous sarcasm. "Hey, look, you're dressed like a girl!"

"Yep, I guess time changes all."

As Daniel turn to see her in the doorway, his jaw dropped. "Wow, you look great." He slowly stuttered out. She was wearing a pair of black, slightly healed sandals, nice fitted jeans with a black sleeveless shirt. Her hair which before was pulled up in a tight french twist was now down revealing its true length, half way down her back. Her makeup had not really changed, except the slightly tinted gloss was now replaced nicely with a neutral shaded lipstick that complimented her lips perfectly.

"Thanks. So, Jack, are you sure you don't want to play hooky, and come with?"

"No, I wish I could, but a General's job is never ending. Watch out and don't let Daniel drink too much, he's a light weight."

"Ha, ha very funny, Jack." Daniel said half annoyed.

Kristi giggled at the face making going on between the two men. "Ok, boys, enough. I'm getting hungry." She said walking around the desk and giving Jack a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you tomorrow Jack, and thanks for letting me crash at your place."

"Hey, no problem. You kids don't get into to much trouble, ok?"

"Yes, sir." She replied with a mock salute as they walked out of the office.

"So, what was the whole dressed like a girl comment about?" Daniel asked walking towards the elevator.

"Don't ask. I need to grab my pack real quick, I'll meet you up top, OK?"

"Alright, but don't take to long."

With that Daniel went up, and Kristi turned around back towards Jack's office, where her pack was conveniently left outside the door.

"Не будьте ишаком, Jack."

"I have no clue what you just said, but don't gripe at me in other languages." He smiled at her.

"I said don't be an ass, and it was Russian. Don't make fun of me just because I grew past the way my brothers taught me to dress."

"And I thought we were doing so well, why you have to bring him up?"

"I'm not, I'm just telling you not to make fun of me, and I wanted to see if I could meet you for breakfast in the morning?"

"Yeah, we can do that, as long as its in English only, ok?"

"I think that's doable. I'll see you tomorrow." She said walking out, pack in hand, to the elevator.

The ride to O'Malley's was fairly uneventful, mainly just Daniel asking Kristi a million questions about Antarctica and the work in Russia. As they got out of the car in the parking lot she was at her wits end.

"Hey, Daniel?"

"Yes?"

"Do me a favor, while were in the restaurant, lets not talk about work, ok? I've talked about work all day; I just want a night off." She was giving him a sympathetic smile, and trying not to hurt his feelings. She could tell he was just trying to make conversation with out sounding to forward.

"Ok, not a problem." Smiling back into the now awkward silence, he held the door of O'Malley's open for her.

Luckily, since it was a weeknight they didn't have to wait for a table. They sat glancing over the menus not quite sure what to say. Kristi decided to break the silence first.

"So.."

"Yeah…"

"Maybe not talking about work wasn't the best suggestion."

"No, it's ok. We can think of something. Hey, what are you thinking about getting to eat?"

"I don't know. Jack said that I should try the sirloin. What about you?"

"Sounds good. So, did you enjoy your afternoon with Jack?"

"Yeah, we had a pretty good talk, but you know him, nothing to deep. We just seemed to skim on the surface."

"Yep, that's Jack alright. I've realized over the years that it take a lot of work to get Jack to open up," he paused and said with a chuckle, "Well, that and alcohol."

"Ah, now I hear that you are not one to hold your alcohol, Dr. Jackson." She said smiling with a mocking look.

"See, now that's not fair. You know a lot more about me then I know about you."

"Very true, so what do you want to know?"

"Hmm, I know. Tell me five things about yourself that I wouldn't find in your military files."

"Ok, let me think for a minute. Well, even though I'm a girl, I know how to fix a car and prefer to drive a stick over automatic."

"Interesting, but not very deep."

"When I was 10, I was suspended from school."

"For what?"

"For making explosives out of ordinary household items in the 8th grade science fair." She said quickly, and followed by bashfully taking a sip of her drink.

"Making explosives? Wait, you were 10 in 8th grade?" he said, practically choking on his beer.

"Yeah, I was a little accelerated in school, and the exploding science project was not my idea."

"I can guess whose ides it was. So, how far ahead were you?"

"Probably too far, I graduated High School when I was 14, and I had finished my biochem BA when I was 17. After that I joined the Air Force and went to the academy, and here I am 12 years later."

"Wow, so Jack wasn't kidding when he called you a genius."

"Nope, I defiantly take after my brothers."

Daniel's "What?" was abruptly cut off by the waitresses timing.

"Are you ready to order? Or do you need a few minutes?"

"No, I think we're ready." Kristi said, realizing her pluralizing slip, and hoping he wouldn't notice ordered quickly.

After they ordered Daniel just looked a Kristi with a sly smile. 'Crap. He heard. How in the world am I going to explain this to Jack? How am I going to explain this to Daniel?' Kristi thought giving Daniel quite a different forced smile.

"So, what did you mean by brothers?"

"Slip of the tongue?" Her forced grin and slight wince were a dead give away that it was not.

"Nope, you're not getting out of it. Explain."

"Fine, but first you must swear not to tell Jack that I told you."

"Fine, I swear."

"Alright, you know Jack's Dad died when he was really young, a few years later his Mom got remarried. They had another son."

"Ok, and why has Jack never told anyone?"

"Well, him and Angus don't really get along. At all."

"Why?"

"Angus, or Mac as everyone calls him, has a major problem with the military, and guns, and fighting. Sufficed to say he doesn't really talk to me either. Military runs in the O'Neill family, Jack's Dad were air force, as was my Dad, and our grandfather. Mac just never got the importance to us. The funny thing is how similar Mac and Jack are, they look almost exactly alike. They look just like their Mom, the reason Jack and I don't look too much alike, because I look just like my Dad. If only they could get their heads out of their asses for 5 minutes they might just realize how little of a family we have left."

"So, what does Mac do?"

"Last I heard he was working for the Phoenix Foundation, he's always on some mission to save the world. Sounds familiar, huh?" She giggled at the thought that her brothers were doing the same thing, only in slightly different ways.

"Yeah, so now what's the other thing about Jack being smart? I know he's smarted than he lets on, but how much?"

"You don't know that he has a Masters in Chemical Engineering?"

"Wow, a Masters? In a science field?"

"Yeah, Mac was a chemist, also. They both like to blow things up."

With that the uncomfortable part of the evening was over, and they began to talk as if they knew each other for years. It wasn't till 11 o'clock that either one of them noticed the time and Daniel took Kristi to Jack's house.

"I do have to ask you one more thing. What's with Jack and The Wizard of Oz thing?" Daniel asked her as they pulled up to the house.

She immediately started to giggle. "He still quotes it huh? Well, right after my parents died Jack bought it for me to try to cheer me up. I used to make him watch it over and over. Eventually I guess it grew on him. I used to watch it when ever he was gone on a mission and when I missed him."

When they got to the house, Daniel got out and walked Kristi to the door. They stood there for a moment just in a soft stare before Kristi spoke again.

"Would you like to come in for some coffee?"

"Uh, sure, that would be nice."

They were both thinking they should go inside, yet they stood there looking straight into each others eyes. Neither one of them was consciously aware of moving, but they ended up moving closer together. Silence enveloped them, stretching a moment into eternity, until their lips gently brushed up against one another for only an instant. Startled, they both pulled away.

"So," Kristi said, barely being able to cover the quiver in her voice, "how about some coffee?"

"Good idea." Daniel replied as they finally went in still looking her straight in the eyes.

It was about 5:30 in the morning when Kristi woke up. 'God, how I would love to be able to sleep more than 5 hours at a time" she thought looking back at the fact that her and Daniel stayed up talking for another hour before she went to bed. 'Well, at least I have time for a run and a shower before I need to report at the base.' After changing in to her running clothes she headed downstairs as quite as possible, as not to wake Daniel.

When she finished her run she put on fresh pot of coffee and walked to the couch to wake up Daniel.

"Daniel," she spoke softly as she gently shook his shoulder, "you might want to wake up."

"Huh?" he replied, not quite awake. "What time is it, and do I smell coffee?"

"It's 0630, and yes I put on some coffee. I need to jump in the shower, but I though you might need to start getting up."

"Yeah, thanks."

As she went upstairs to the guest bathroom and into the shower, Daniel got up and poured him a cup of coffee. The phone started to ring right as the shower water started running.

"O'Neill residence." Daniel said trying his hardest to sound awake.

"DanielJackson, what are you doing at O'Neill's residence?"

"Hey Teal'c. I'm here to take Kristi back up to the base." 'Wow' he thought 'can't believe I thought that up so quickly when I'm this tired.'

"Ah, I see. GeneralO'Neill had requested me to call and see if the Major required a ride, but I see that she does not." And with that Teal'c hung up.

'Aw, crap what is Jack going to think?' Daniel contemplated as he started sipping his coffee. 'Damn, where does Jack keep his extra toothbrushes? Oh, yeah in the guest bathroom.'


	4. Two Stubborn O'Neills, One Big Problem

**Chapter 4: Two Stubborn O'Neills, One Big Problem**

"O'Neill"

"Yeah Teal'c?"

"I attempted to call MajorO'Neill at your residence."

"And?"

"DanielJackson answered the phone and informed me he would transport the Major here."

"Why do I have the feeling you're leaving something out here?" Jack said giving Teal'c a you-better-tell-me-what's-really-going-on-or-else look.

"He sounded like he had not had any coffee yet this morning. He acted as if I caught him off guard."

"It was probably nothing." Jack waved him off, thinking to him self 'What has she done now?'

_Knock, knock._

'Ok, I finally get a bathroom to myself, and I still get my shower interrupted' Kristi thought to herself, but she answered aloud "Yes?"

"Hey, I just need to grab a toothbrush." Daniel said bashfully.

"It's ok. I'm military, remember? It's rare for me to have a bathroom to myself."

"Oh, by the way, Teal'c just called, wondering if you needed a ride, I told him I was taking you." He was starting to stammer nervously.

"Ok?" She could tell that something else was on his mind.

"He sounded suspicious; I think we need to talk about last night."

"That's fine," she said sticking her head out of the curtain, "but can it wait till I at least get out of the shower?"

"Oh, yeah. Good idea." He replied walking out of the bathroom, now totally embarrassed and worried about what Jack must be thinking now.

By the time Kristi finished her shower, she also was thinking was too much. 'Great, I actually have a really good time out with someone, and now he's having regrets. What is it with me and men; it always gets way too screwed up.' She decided she needed to stop thinking, instead focused on getting dressed and getting another cup of coffee. Yes, coffee will defiantly help.

As Kristi walked down the stairs, she could see Daniel sitting on the couch drinking a cup of coffee and silently murmuring to his self. She couldn't help but smile a bit. She went in to the kitchen and got another cup of coffee, took a deep breath, and then went to go "talk".

"Nothing like a good cup of coffee in the morning, right?" she said as she sat down on the couch next to him.

"Yeah, Sam once told me that a person cannot live by coffee alone, but I don't believe her." He joked. "See, this is just weird!"

"Huh? Why? How is this weird?"

"It just is. We get along so well. Last night I thought we had a really good time, I loved talking to you and it was the first time, in a long time, I've had fun that didn't include SG-1."

"But…?"

"But, your Jack's cousin."

"So?"

"He's my best friend, and that makes it weird. And complicated."

"Weird and complicated, sounds like the story of my life." she said giving him a reassuring smile.

"Can I ask you something? You said you had fun, right?"

Daniel just nodded not quite sure where this was going yet.

"Did you have any regrets before Teal'c called this morning?"

"No."

"Ok, one more question." Quickly, before he realized what she was doing, Kristi leaned over and kissed him. With out thinking, he started kissing her back. After a few seconds she pulled back with a smile on her lips.

"Was that your question?" he slyly smiled back.

"Yep."

"Well, did you at least like the answer?"

"Very much, thank you. Now, don't worry about Jack, we didn't do anything wrong."

"Your right we didn't, but maybe we can not do anything wrong again sometime soon?"

"Why Dr. Jackson, are you asking me out on a date?"

"I was thinking along the lines of breakfast, I'm getting a little hungry."

"Actually, I promised to meet Jack for breakfast, but defiantly some other time."

"Alright, I'll hold you to that, but we'd better get going if you want to make breakfast."

Jack walked down to the commissary, he had finally stopped over thinking what Teal'c told him this morning, and he was looking forward to his breakfast with his semi-little sister. As he walked thru the doors, he looked around for Kristi. He quickly found her sitting with Daniel. They were talking and laughing as she told him about something that happened in Russia. Jack thought nothing of it, until Kristi laid her hand on Daniel's during some point of the story. A wave of anger hit Jack faster than he could stop it, and he immediately turned and stormed out of the commissary. Kristi turned and saw him leave.

"Oh no." she said, almost foreseeing the next conversation she would have with Jack.

"What?" Daniel asked not having seen Jack.

"I need to go; Jack just stormed out of here. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"That's fine; do you want me to come with you?"

"No, this is something I have to handle myself."

"Hey, Jack. Why didn't you stay for breakfast?"

"Well, you looked like you were enjoying yourself and I didn't want to interrupt." Jack replied

quite shortly.

"He was keeping me company till you got there."

"Yeah, and he was just 'keeping you company' all night in my house."

"First off, he slept on the couch. It was late and he didn't want to drive back to his apartment."

"I can't believe you, he's my best friend Kristi."

"Excuse me?" Kristi's anger was quickly escalating past the point of Jack's. "What do you think I did?"

"You know what? I don't really care."

"No, you can't do this Jack."

"Do what exactly, Kristi?"

"Act like you know everything, start a fight and then walk away."

"I don't see anyone walking away."

"I meant that figuratively, not like you haven't done literally before."

"Fine, are you doing this to get back at me? Because I don't need you to toy with my friend's feelings to hurt me."

"You know what? It hurts me to think that you would assume that I would do that. Daniel and I have nothing to do with you."

"So, there is a Daniel and you?"

"Yes! No! I mean, I don't know yet."

"So, in other words you're just going to toy with him until you leave?"

"No. Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to pick a fight with me?" She was getting quite upset now, and the O'Neill temper was coming out in both of them.

"I'm not trying to do anything, Major. I think this conversation has gone far enough."

"Uh-uh, no. You are not going to do this. This is not a Major-General issue; this is a Jack-Kristi issue. You're not pulling the military card."

"You need to remember that right now I'm your commanding officer, and this whole conversation borders on insubordination."

"You're not doing this. I'm not Mac; you can't just shut me out."

"I don't see what he has to do with this, and you're just as much like him as you are me."

"Is this what your attitude is about? You're worried that I'm going to become like Mac?"

"Again, this has gone far enough."

"No, it hasn't even gotten close. You cannot pull me into your problems with Mac. I'm so sick of being stuck in the middle. You know he fights with me the same as you do. He thinks I'm too much like you. I'm not either one of you."

"I know you're not."

"Then why are you acting like I am? Even Mom sees it. Neither one have gone to see her in

years, because your to afraid you'll see each other, and have to deal with your issues. You know she hasn't even met Sam. You both have your heads to far up your asses to see how much you're hurting her."

Jack was no long able to control his temper towards her. He was trying to get out, but the mere mention of his brother brought up to many issues.

"You know what? I don't want to ever see Mac again, but you can't act like you understand. Just because you weren't enough for your Mom, doesn't mean you can act like you know best for mine." As soon as he said he knew he shouldn't have. He could see the tears well up in Kristi's eyes. "Kristi?" Silence answered him for a moment.

"May I be dismissed, Sir? I have a mission to prepare for."

"Kristi, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Sir, again, permission to be dismissed."

"Yeah." Jack said overcome with guilt. Just then he noticed Sam standing by the briefing room door. "Hey, Carter. How long have you been there?"

"Long enough." She had heard the last half of the fight, but didn't know how to interrupt. "So, what's this about your Mom wanting to meet me?"

"Oh, another Sam, not, that she doesn't want to meet you, too. Hey, can you go check on her for me? I'm really not in a mood to talk right now."

"Sure. Let me know when you are in the mood." With that comment Jack's eyebrow raised and she quickly added, "To talk of course."

By the time Kristi had made it to the locker room the tears started to fall.

"Son of a bitch!" She yelled as she fiercely slammed her clenched fist in to an open locker.

"Hey, you can't go on a mission with a broken hand you know?" a familiar voice said behind her.

"I apologize Colonel." Kristi replied trying to wipe the tears from her eyes, being careful not to turn around.

"It's Sam, remember? You want to tell me the reason for the busted locker?" Sam was worried that like the General, Kristi would clam up and use the ever so famous 'I'm Fine' excuse.

Still not turning around, Kristi lightly leaned her head on the locker in front of her. "It's an unspoken rule, I don't bring up Charlie, and he doesn't bring up my mom."

"What happened?"

"Jack and I have a disagreement on a little issue, then we started bringing up bigger issues, like usual. It went too far. He just went too far." She turned around and faced Sam for a moment. Sam could the tear streaks on Kristi's face and the redness in her eyes. Kristi walked over to the bench and sat down; Sam immediately sat down next to her resting a reassuring hand on Kristi's.

"What happened to your mom?"

"My Dad died shortly after I turned 6, my mom was pregnant. She couldn't handle my Dad's death, she got depressed. She stopped eating and sleeping. She kept sending me to Judy's, Jack's mom, saying that I was to much like my Dad, and that she could stand to see me. About a month later she lost the baby, and soon after that she killed her self." She was trying her best not to get to emotional and keep her military self prominent.

"Oh, Kristi, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Its ok, I hear it's good to talk about sometimes. We O'Neill's don't usually do it though." She tried to fake a laugh, but it almost came out as a sob. Tears were still burning her eyes and threatening to fall.

"Yeah, talking is good. So, you want to tell about Mac?"

"I guess I need to. I said too much already, and I have a feeling you heard most of mine and Jack's fight."

Over the next half hour or so Kristi told Sam about Mac, her parents, her relationship with Jack, and what happened with her and Daniel. Sam told Kristi about her mom, dad, and her brother. Sam finally realized what time it was and that they should be getting ready for the mission.

"It was really nice to have a girl to talk to. No offence, but most women scientists aren't usually interested in having those girlfriend relationships." Kristi told Sam with a smile and a hug.

"Yeah, it gets hard with all the men around here. When we get back you'll have to meet my friend Janet. She's on vacation with Cassie right now, but they will be back by the time we are."

"Dr. Janet Frazier, right? A lot of my work pick up from her's, I wondered when I was going to get to meet her."

"Maybe we'll have to have a girl's night out; we'll bring Cassie, too."

"Sound good."

"Ok, now we better get ready, we have a briefing in 15 minutes."


End file.
